System Restore Wikipedia. System Restore is a feature in Microsoft Windows that allows the user to revert their computers state including system files, installed applications, Windows Registry, and system settings to that of a previous point in time, which can be used to recover from system malfunctions or other problems. First included in Windows ME, it has been included in all following desktop versions of Windows released since, excluding the Windows Server. In Windows 1. System Restore is turned off by default and must be enabled by users in order to function. In prior Windows versions it was based on a file filter that watched changes for a certain set of file extensions, and then copied files before they were overwritten. An updated version of System Restore introduced by Windows Vista uses the Shadow Copy service as a backend allowing block level changes in files located in any directory on the volume to be monitored and backed up regardless of their location and allows System Restore to be used from the Windows Recovery Environment in case the Windows installation no longer boots at all. OvervieweditIn System Restore, the user may create a new restore point manually as opposed to the system creating one automatically, roll back to an existing restore point, or change the System Restore configuration. Restoring Deleted Files Windows Vista' title='Restoring Deleted Files Windows Vista' />Windows Vista introduced a number of new IO functions to the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. They are intended to shorten the time taken to boot the. Restore deleted files, and folders on local and network drives. Software supports recovery from FAT, NTFS partitions and removable devices like Secure Digital. Restoring Deleted Files Windows Vista' title='Restoring Deleted Files Windows Vista' />Moreover, the restore itself can be undone. Old restore points are discarded in order to keep the volumes usage within the specified amount. For many users, this can provide restore points covering the past several weeks. Users concerned with performance or space usage may also opt to disable System Restore entirely. Files stored on volumes not monitored by System Restore are never backed up or restored. System Restore backs up system files of certain extensions. It also backs up the registry and most drivers. Resources monitorededitStarting with Windows Vista, System Restore takes a snapshot of all volumes it is monitoring. However, on Windows XP, it only monitors the following 78The list of file types and directories to be included or excluded from monitoring by System Restore can be customized on Windows Me and Windows XP by editing windirsystem. Filelist. xml. 9Disk space consumptioneditThe amount of disk space System Restore consumes can be configured. Starting with Windows XP, the disk space allotted is configurable per volume and the data stores are also stored per volume. File are stored using NTFS compression and a Disk Cleanup handler allows deleting all but the most recent Restore Point to free up disk space. System Restore can be disabled completely to regain disk space. It automatically disables itself if the disk free space is too low for it to operate. Restore pointseditWindows creates restore points When software is installed using Windows Installer or other installers that are aware of System Restore1. When Windows Update installs new updates. When the user installs a driver that is not digitally signed by Windows Hardware Quality Labs. Periodically. By default. Windows XP creates a restore point every 2. Windows Vista creates a restore point if none is created within the last 2. Windows 7 creates a restore point if none has been created within the last seven days1. On users command. Windows XP stores restore point files in a hidden folder named System Volume Information on the root of every drive, partition or volume, including most external drives and some USB flash drives. The operating system deletes older restore points per the configured space constraint on a first in, first out basis. Implementation differenceseditThere are considerable differences between how System Restore works under Windows XP and later Windows versions. Configuration UI In Windows XP, there is a graphical slider to configure the amount of disk space allotted to System Restore. In Windows Vista, the GUI to configure the disk space is not available. Using the command line tool Vssadmin. Blacklisted Software Companies In India here. Starting with Windows 7, the slider is available once again. Maximum space In Windows XP, System Restore can be configured to use up to a maximum of 1. Restore points over 9. RPLife. Interval Time to Live TTL default value of 7. In Windows Vista and later, System Restore is designed for larger volumes. By default, it uses 1. File paths monitored Up to Windows XP, files are backed up only from certain directories. On Windows Vista and later, this set of files is defined by monitored extensions outside of the Windows folder, and everything under the Windows folder. File types monitored Up to Windows XP, it excludes any file types used for users personal data files, such as documents, digital photographs, media files, e mail, etc. It also excludes the monitored set of file types. DLL,. EXE etc. from folders such as My Documents. Microsoft recommends that if a user is unsure as to whether certain files will be modified by a rollback, they should keep those files under My Documents. When a rollback is performed, the files that were being monitored by System Restore are restored and newly created folders are removed. However, on Windows Vista and later, it excludes only document file types it does not exclude any monitored system file type regardless of its location. Configuring advanced System Restore settings Windows XP supports customizing System Restore settings via Windows Registry and a file at windirsystem. Filelist. xml. 91. Windows Vista and later no longer support this. FAT3. 2 volume support On Windows Vista and later, System Restore no longer works on FAT3. GB. 1. 4Restoring the systemeditUp to Windows XP, the system can be restored as long as it is in an online state, that is, as long as Windows boots normally or from Safe mode. It is not possible to restore the system if Windows is unbootable without using a 3rd party bootable recovery media such as ERD Commander. Under Windows Vista and later, the Windows Recovery Environment can be used to launch System Restore and restore a system in an offline state, that is, in case the Windows installation is unbootable. Since the advent of Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset from it can be used to create a bootable recovery disc that can log on to an unbootable Windows installation and start System Restores. The toolset includes ERD commander for Windows XP that was previously a 3rd party product by Wininternals. Limitations and complicationseditA bug existed in System Restore that shipped with Windows Millennium Edition wherein the rollback procedure does not work after 8 September 2. Microsoft had created an update to address this issue. A limitation which applies to System Restore in Windows versions prior to Windows Vista is that only certain file types and files in certain locations on the volume are monitored, therefore unwanted software installations and especially in place software upgrades may be incompletely reverted by System Restore. Consequently, there may be little or no practical beneficial impact. Certain issues may also arise when attempting to run or completely uninstall that application. In contrast, various other utilities have been designed to provide much more complete reversal of system changes including software upgrades. However, beginning with Windows Vista, System Restore monitors all system file types on all file paths on a given volume, so there is no issue of incomplete restoration.